The wisest and smartest move Chris Paul can make in the coming days is to extinguish the fire that started with his vague response in his first meeting with Warriors reporters.
Sometime before next Monday, when Paul and his new teammates gather for a media day at Chase Center, the veteran guard could issue 11 words that will silence chatter regarding his role.
“I want to win. Everything else – including my role – is secondary.
Such a selfless statement would be welcomed by coach Steve Kerr, general manager Mike Dunleavy, and every player in the locker room. The discerning citizens of Dub Nation – many of whom sighed when Paul hinted he might be in the starting line-up – will accept what has come and warm to his presence on their favorite team.
A truthful declaration by Paul would clarify the deliberately vague statement Kerr made when he met the media on Monday.
“We have six freshmen,” he said. “…And only five can go each night.”
Kerr won’t address the rookie or sixth-man issue because he respects Paul, the future Hall of Famer whose pride is strong enough to block out the sun.
The question of whether the 38-year-old Ball will start or come off the bench has danced in the minds of Warriors executives, coaches, players and fans since July. Some of this can be attributed to the fact that he has been a starter since his NBA debut in 2005, ahead of five teams and 1,214 games played.
However, most of it started with Paul’s cheeky response to a question he was supposedly coming to the Warriors to lead the second unit.
“Are you training?” Paul answered when asked about his role. “I don’t know what it’s going to be like yet. We’ll have to find out once we get started.”
Paul’s tone and sinister smile indicate that he still considers himself a starter, regardless of the roster. In fact, the response was enough to suggest that Paul thinks enough of himself and his game, so far, that he could come to training camp and perform impressive enough to force Kerr to abandon a starting lineup that last season was the best in the league. .
Golden State’s starting lineup — which includes Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andrew Wiggins, Draymond Green and Kevon Looney — posted an NBA-best net rating of 21.9 (128.0 on offense, 106.1 on defense). Nothing has been done in the team’s exciting 2022-23 season and the work put in by that quintet.
To put this into perspective, the league’s No. 2 starting lineup — Jamal Murray, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Michael Porter Jr., Aaron Gordon and Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets — ranked second with a net rating of 13.1. That was good enough to win the 2023 NBA Finals.
Kerr would need a very compelling reason to move away from a very efficient lineup despite operating with three pitchers in a league where most contenders start with at least four. The Curry-Thompson-Wiggins-Green-Looney lineup works mostly because the roles are clearly defined, and the five players generally maintain a chemistry on the floor that is almost symphonic.
“I know these guys very well,” Kerr said. “I know five of them very well and I’ll get to know Chris. The one thing I know about all of them is that they want to win more than anything else. They’re an incredibly competitive group, and I’m very confident that we will figure that out and the players will buy in and find a way.
Kerr also knows he has in Paul another intelligent player with a clear understanding of schemes and strategies. Paul can play with the starters, but his greatest value to the Warriors is his ability to feed off the emerging skills of youngsters Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Modi. Paul and fellow veteran Dario Saric, a big man with a high IQ, can perform and teach in real time.
Second unit needs Paul and Saric. Traditional beginners will benefit from occasional support from them. Different wrinkle. Occasional update. Consider them part-time beginners.
“I haven’t decided yet what we’re going to do,” Kerr said. “I want to see training camp. We’ll try different combinations and take a look. Obviously all six players will play a lot of minutes for us.
“But if this is going to work, everyone has to buy into it – regardless of who starts and who doesn’t. It will only work if the whole team buys in.”
The old core, who knows what it takes to win a championship, is on board. And Paul, in 11 words, can prove it too.
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